Galleries join hands for a bigger canvas

COLLABORATIONS between galleries in staging shows are becoming a fashion. This is primarily between two well-known galleries from two different cities that want to cash in on their core competencies. A tie-up helps both galleries to reap the advantages that each one enjoys. One of the major effects is that sales volumes doubles when a show is exhibited in two metros. “As the number of artists are growing in every region, an established local gallery plays a pivotal role in picking out the most promising artists. Thus, when galleries collaborate they can both benefit from displaying talented painters and sculptors. Sometimes, an artist could be working exclusively with a gallery. Here, it’s virtually impossible for another gallery to get the works of such an artist. In a collaborative effort, creations of this artist are available in a second gallery too,” an art market source told ET. According to the source, showcasing the artist’s creation in another region is a healthy feature. Moreover, it allows buyers in that region to get access to the works of this artist. “From the perspective of galleries, collaborative shows give galleries the opportunity to show the works as well as the share the cost of showing. In the process, buyers and collectors are exposed to a whole new range of artists and artworks. The other factor is that when two well-known galleries collaborate, it adds more value to their goodwill and reputation,” the source said. As far as artists go, collaborations between galleries finds a single body of works being shown to a whole new set of buyers and collectors, critics and opinion makers. “Sometimes an artist works for a year or more to create a body of works for a solo show. Therefore, when they are exhibited in two cities it works to the benefit of the artist. After all, on most cases a solo is exhibited in one city,” the source said. For the buyer, it’s a win-win situation. He gets to sample works from various regions of the country. This opens up the scope to collect pieces by a clutch of artists from galleries in which the buyers have trust and confidence. Some recent collaborative endeavours include a Shakti Burman solo show put up by Apparao Galleries of Chennai, Mumbai’s Pundole and Kolkata’s Birla Academy. At the same time, Akar Prakar of Kolkata and Mumbai’s Art Musings have teamed up recently for a Ganesh Haloi show. Akar Prakar and Delhi’s Gallery Nvya had tied up to stage a Sanat Kar show. In step, Kolkata’s Chitrakoot Art Gallery had collaborated with Tao of Mumbai for a solo show by Arindam Chatterjee. “Collaborations throw up the possibility of doubling sales of a show because each gallery has dedicated buyers. With the mushrooming of galleries, collaborations may become the order of the day,” the source said.

Courtesy: EconomicTimes

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